Havering Council To Use Commercial Building To House 55 Homeless Families.

Local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann today writes:

Havering Council will use a commercial building to house 55 homeless families amid growing financial pressures.

Top councillors rubber-stamped the plan at a cabinet meeting last on Wednesday night.

Residents would stay in Chesham House, in Romford, for between twelve and 24 months, the council says.

Council leader Ray Morgon told the cabinet the new accommodation would have a “profound and positive” impact on at-risk residents.

He said a focus of the council was improving the living situation of homeless children.

London-wide data shows that, on average, one in every 21 children is living in temporary accommodation. Homelessness can affect their performance at school and have an adverse impact on their mental and physical wellbeing, according to the Children’s Society.

Residents at risk of ending up on the streets are housed in hotels and bed-and-breakfast-style accommodation, which costs councils millions.

Cllr Morgon, filling in for cabinet member Natasha Summers, said: “It’s not merely about providing shelter, but about securing the right kind of accommodation for children.

“Temporary accommodation is not great for children to be living in and it won’t help them thrive as individuals.”

However, Labour leader Keith Darvill said the accommodation would need to be suitable and there had been “plenty of examples” where commercial property had not been appropriately converted.

He added that the situation with temporary accommodation in Havering was a “real mess”.

Patrick Odling-Smee, the town hall’s director of ‘living well,’ said the council would “rather not be doing this” but faced various housing challenges.

In a report put before the cabinet, assistant housing director Darren Alexander said: “The collapse of the private rented sector in London has been a significant contributing factor to the lack of supply following hikes in inflation and interest rates.”

One of the biggest financial burdens on Havering currently is the cost of temporary accommodation.

Last year, it overspent its budget on accommodation by £6.1million. Due to growing pressures, it is facing an unprecedented £75m budget gap for 2025/26.

The housing director added: “Local authorities in London can no longer rely on a fraught private rented sector and Havering Council must secure its own supply of affordable accommodation to avert the risk in a continued, unsustainable, nightly-charged market.”

The council will enter into a ten-year lease with the National Housing Group, which it says will save £9.7million over the next decade.

The lease will cost the council £8.4m and a further £6.4m to operate the accommodation. However, it will be able to recover the £6.4m as service charges paid by its tenants.

Much of the report was exempt from the public, but the council says it will earn £8.4m by selling land or assets, benefitting by more than £18m in total.

The building was previously used as a guitar shop. As of October 2024, the store had closed.

Chesham House in Romford.

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